Kenny Cooper: The New York Red Bull Is the Perfect Partner for Thierry Henry

Kenny Cooper didn't live up to expectations last season for the Portland Timbers. The former FC Dallas standout was supposed to be the kind of impact player the expansion team needed to make its first season in Major League Soccer special.Instead, Cooper struggled on John Spencer's team and didn't find the net the way people expected. He looked lost at times and short of confidence. The homecoming from a disappointing European journey with German team TSV 1860 Munich just didn't pan out for Cooper.With a relatively high salary by MLS standards, Cooper was deemed too expensive to hold on to by Portland. The New York Red Bulls jumped at the chance to trade for the player before the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, sending allocation money and the Red Bulls' 2013 first-round draft pick to Portland.And Cooper has been anything but a disappointment for the Red Bulls since arriving; in fact, he's been a perfect counter-balance to the Red Bulls' other experienced forward, a certain player by the name of Thierry Henry.There was a chance the Red Bulls would be without Luke Rodgers this year. It was known that Rodgers' troubles with the law in England meant that obtaining a work visa ...

Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 4: Galaxy Lose Big to Revs

Sporting Kansas City continues to truck along while the New York Red Bulls finally live up to expectations and the Los Angeles Galaxy continue to fall apart. 1. Sporting Kansas City (4-0-0, 12 pts.) Kansas City beat a Chivas team coming off the high of winning at Real Salt Lake to keep its perfect record.2. San Jose Earthquakes (3-1-0, 9 pts.) Winning in Seattle isn't easy, but San Jose did it with a Chris Wondolowski penalty and stalwart defense. 3. Vancouver Whitecaps (2-0-2, 8 pts.) Another draw for the Whitecaps and another goalless game for a team full of attacking potential. But Martin Rennie will be happy to show off his team's impenetrable defense. Goals will come, and when they do, look out because the Whitecaps will be untouchable if they keep playing this kind of defense.4. Real Salt Lake (3-1-0, 9 pts.) Coming off a tough loss to Chivas at home, what does RSL do? It makes an impossible looking comeback in Portland to steal three points from the Timbers. Things look normal again.5. Colorado Rapids (3-1-0, 9 pts.) The Rapids keep plodding along. Another good win this week with a 2-0 win at home over Chicago,6. Seattle Sounders (2-1-0, 6 pts.) San ...

David Beckham: Is He Really Worth His Salary at LA Galaxy?

According the Major League Soccer Players' Union, the Los Angeles Galaxy paid David Beckham $6.5 million last year in guaranteed compensation, making Beckham the highest paid player in the league.Is the former Manchester United midfielder still worth the hefty price tag that brought him to Major League Soccer as the original Designated Player? Right now, yes. David Beckham is worth every penny to the defending MLS Cup and Supporter's Shield winners. Beckham enjoyed his best season in MLS last year. He was able to stay healthy and contributed more than the goalscoring stats show—two goals in 26 appearances. Beckham provided 15 assists for the Galaxy, a team that was light on stand-out out-and-out strikers for much of the season (Robbie Keane joined the team in August and I'm excluding Landon Donovan from the "out-and-out striker" role because he operated on the wing).In four MLS Cup matches, Beckham provided four assists for the eventual champions, making him the major supplier for the team's goalscorers. In fact, Beckham had a decisive touch in the Galaxy's game-winning goal against the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup Final.Beckham made the first touch on the goal, flicking on to Robbie Keane with his head. Keane then laid the ball off ...

Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 3: Sporting Kansas City Stays Strong

Real Salt Lake fell hard at home this week, which is something that isn't often said. Sporting Kansas City jumps up one spot after another impressive win. And five teams got their first win of the season. 1. Sporting Kansas City (3-0-0, 9 pts.) A late goal from Kei Kamara sealed a 2-1 win over FC Dallas over the weekend for Kansas City. Sporting's attacking weapons and versatility make this team one to watch every week.2. Seattle Sounders (2-0-0, 6 pts.) It looks like David Estrada will score plenty of goals this season for the Sounders, he scored the opener against Houston over the weekend.Opponents now have another thing to worry about when playing Seattle outside of Fredy Montero, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez and Mauro Rosales.3. Vancouver Whitecaps (2-0-1, 7 pts.) No shots on target isn't usually a good thing for the home team, and last season the Whitecaps would have lost if that was the case, but this year the team showed some nerve when struggling to create against D.C. United and got a point despite playing sub-par.4. San Jose Earthquakes (2-1-0, 6 pts.) Where Chris Wondolowski goes so do the Quakes. And Wondo is on fire to start the season. An impressive, 3-0, ...

Major League Soccer Power Rankings: Real Salt Lake on Top

Major League Soccer has kicked off its season. Two weeks of games have come and gone, so it's time to start the early ranking period and put teams in their places. Players have settled in and teams have set the foundations of their rosters, and not too much has changed from last year.1.Real Salt Lake (2-0-0, 6 pts.) The Royals are plugging away again. Jason Kreis has the deepest team in all of Major League Soccer.2.Sporting Kansas City (2-0-0, 6 pts.) Kansas City got a break against New England on Saturday, but there was never any doubt Sporting was going to score. Kansas City may run away with the Eastern Conference if it keeps playing this way.3.Seattle Sounders (1-0-0, 3 pts.) The Sounders may have only played one game so far, but in their 3-1 win over Toronto, they looked rejuvenated and ready to play after being embarrassed in Mexico. 4. Colorado Rapids (2-0-0, 6 pts.) Colorado showed it can hold a lead against a very attack-minded Union side. The Rapids don't have a secret recipe for success, they just play their rough and tumble games and earn points.5. Vancouver Whitecaps (2-0-0, 6 pts.) With its first away win in its short history, Martin ...

Caleb Porter Relying on Freddy Adu: Hoping He Can Lead U.S. to Olympics

It can be easy to forget that Freddy Adu is still just 22 years old. The American soccer prodigy broke through to professional soccer at 14 with D.C. United and then fluttered around Major League Soccer before re-emerging as the supreme American talent at the Under-20 World Cup in 2007.After the 2007 Under-20 World Cup, Adu transferred from Real Salt Lake to Portuguese giants Benfica. And that's where his career stalled for a bit.Now, after four separate loan spells, Adu returned to MLS to play for the Philadelphia Union last season. Adu's return was a big deal for MLS and the Union, the league got one of its premier faces and names back and the Union got a supremely talented player to lead its midfield.But now he's being asked to be something he hasn't been for all those years as a prodigy: a leader.Adu is not only being asked to be a leader of a young Union side, but he's also being asked to be the leader of an even younger Under-23 side trying to qualify for this summer's Olympics in London. Adu is the only player returning from the 2008 Olympics for the 2012 Olympics. It's no surprise coach Caleb Porter didn't select anyone ...